The war in Ukraine is continuing and causing great suffering: Saint Egidio opens a new humanitarian aid centre in Kiev.

There seems to be a widespread illusion that - perhaps because of the holiday season - it is all over now, and yet the conflict in Ukraine is still alive, unfortunately. The Community of Sant'Egidio therefore continues to expand its support for refugees from war zones. On Wednesday 17 August, another help and welcome centre was opened in Darnitsa district, Kiev.

On the first day the centre was open, several dozen families who had fled from the Donbass, Kharkiv and Cherson arrived. They all received food aid and support as they shared their difficulties during a very critical period.

All this is the fruit of the Community's great mobilisation: basic necessities are sent from Italy and Germany to Lviv, where a central coordination office distributes them all over the country, especially in the most affected regions. More generally, the distribution centres in Ukrainie are 3 - one in Lviv, which distributes 1,200 support packs per month, one in Ivano-Frankivsk, 3,500 packs distributed per month, and, the newly opened centre in Kiev.